Cristiano Ronaldo fared markedly worse than last year, picking up just 6% of first choices compared to 74% in 2014. However, Ronaldo did finish second behind Messi when all votes were counted. Right:  Lionel Messi has regained his crown as the Guardian’s No1 player after an
overwhelming 74% of judges picked him as their first choice for 2015.

The Guardian/London


For the first time since the Guardian top 100 began in 2012, La Liga has provided as many footballers to the list as the Premier League – but Spain remains the undisputed No1 source of elite players.
Lionel Messi has regained his crown as the Guardian’s No1 player after an overwhelming 74% of judges picked him as their first choice for 2015. The Argentinian was at the forefront of Barcelona’s treble-winning 2014-15 season.
Messi’s team-mate Luis Suárez (No4 in the ranking), who scored Barça’s second goal in this year’s Champions League final, had the second highest number of first-choice votes among the panel of current and former players, journalists and coaches, with 8% picking the Uruguayan.
Cristiano Ronaldo (No2) fared markedly worse than last year, picking up just 6% of first choices compared to 74% in 2014. His Real Madrid team failed to win any trophies last season and are off the pace this term. However, Ronaldo did finish second behind Messi when all votes were counted.
The third prong of Barcelona’s fearsome attack, Neymar, who excelled in Messi’s prolonged autumn absence, got 4% of first choices. Thomas Müller and Gianluigi Buffon both received 2%, while one judge opted for the Roma captain, Francesco Totti (No96), the oldest player in the top 100 at 39.

LEAGUES
La Liga and the Premier League each provided 28 players to the top 100.
On top of Barcelona’s success in the Champions League, fellow La Liga team Sevilla were the winners of the 2015 Europa League. This meant that five Spanish sides entered the Champions League this season.
Spanish football fans looking for further bragging rights can point to the fact that the leading four players in the top 100 are all playing in La Liga. The highest placed Premier League player – Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero – came in ninth.
Barcelona provide 12 players to the top 100 compared with Real Madrid’s 11. Three players from the 2014 La Liga champions, Atlético Madrid, made the cut, including Frenchman Antoine Griezmann (No28) – a rumoured January transfer target for Chelsea.
Entrants from the Premier League are more equally spread out, with six each from Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, as well as five from Arsenal. Among the Manchester City contingent is the list’s highest new entry, Kevin De Bruyne (No14).
Liverpool had three players in the rankings last season, after a Premier League campaign in which they came agonisingly close to winning the title. However, the only player to feature this season is Philippe Coutinho, a new entry at No46.
Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain can boast seven of the top 100, while Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich provide 13, more than any other club.
Only eight of the 100 players come from leagues outside England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. These include New York City FC’s Andrea Pirlo (No42), Alex Teixera of Shakhtar Donetsk (No89) and Andriy Yarmolenko of Dynamo Kyiv (No98).

NATIONALITY
For the fourth year in a row, there are more Spanish players in the top 100 than from any other country. The highest placed Spaniard is the Barcelona lynchpin Andrés Iniesta at No12, with new entries including Juventus’s Álvaro Morata (No47) and Thiago Alcântara of Bayern Munich (No81).
Just like last year, Germany provide the second highest number of players to the top 100, but this time round they share that accolade with Brazil and France. All three nations have 10 footballers on the list.
Brazil’s renewed success is down to the club form of players such as Douglas Costa (No32), Willian (No52) and Marcelo (No88) rather than that of the national side. The Seleção made a meek exit from this year’s Copa América following a penalty shootout loss to Paraguay.
The French contingent includes the youngest player on the list – 20–year–old Manchester United forward Anthony Martial (No66) – and a late-in-career new entry for Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny at No100.
There were four Englishmen in the list this year, two fewer than last year. However, only one makes the top 50: the Tottenham striker Harry Kane (No38). Leicester’s former non-league forward
Jamie Vardy enters the list at No68 after a record-breaking run of 11 goals in 11 consecutive Premier League games.

AGE AND POSITION
Italian veterans such as Totti, Buffon and Pirlo are among the 24 players over 30 to make the top 100 this year. The list also includes PSG’s record goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic (No7) and the Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech (No79).
The average age of the top 100 in the world has increased each year since 2012. Back then it was 26.3, now it is 28.04.
Paul Pogba, who ranked at No11, is the highest placed player under 23.
Breaking down the top 100 by position finds 41 forwards, 35 midfielders, 17 defenders and seven goalkeepers. However, only one player in the top 10 is not a forward: the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.